This is the ideal New Year’s party appetizer: spicy, sweet, and smoky bites with big flavor, served on crispy-crunchy toasts. Each bite-sized app has a megaton of flavor, so a few plates of these being passed around at your next gathering go a long way towards making some terrific food memories for all.

We created these zippy bites by topping slices of toasted baguette with a backbone of chevré garnished with wedges of Sun-Maid® California Calimyrna Figs and crisp pieces of Nueske’s® Pepper-Coated Bacon; a version of our classic Applewood Smoked Bacon that’s been hand-rubbed with fresh-cracked Tellicherry peppercorns. 

Once the chevré is spread and the figs and bacon are in place, we drizzled Mike’s Hot Honey® over each bite-sized piece, but if you’re not a fan of the heat, substituting your favorite non-spicy honey is just as tasty… or try making a batch of both spicy and non-spicy toasts and see which version your guests prefer!

Nueske’s® Peppered Bacon, Hot-Honeyed Calimyrna Fig, & Chevré Toasts

Makes 12 toasts

Ingredients:

12 slices baguette, ¾” bias-cut
1 Tbsp. good olive oil
6 oz. chevré
6 slices Nueske’s® Pepper-Coated Bacon, cut in half
12 Sun-Maid® California Calimyrna Figs, cut in half
2 Tbsp. Mike’s Hot Honey® (to adjust heat to your taste, make your own spicy honey and cayenne powder, to taste)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F.

Brush the baguette slices with olive oil and place on baking sheet. Toast lightly in the oven, removing when just turning golden-brown.

While bread is toasting, place halved pepper bacon slices in a cold frying pan on the stove top and bring temperature up to medium, turning bacon as needed and removing bacon slices when they are just browned. Please bacon on paper towel, to drain.

Spread ½ oz. of chevré on each toast, then top with one bacon piece and two fig halves. Drizzle with spicy (or not!) honey and serve.